


When in Rome

by Tyler743



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Adult Damian Wayne, Coming of Age, Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Love Triangles, Sexual Tension, Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2020-07-25 02:10:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20024836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyler743/pseuds/Tyler743
Summary: Stephanie Brown thought that the life of crime fighting beside the big bad bat and the rest of his unavoidably attractive underlings was behind her.Until it wasn't anymore.Suddenly she is working back to back with the bat family (and her ex) once again but this time....they're international! And holy hell...Damian grew up!Why did it feel like she could never win, or at least get ahead in this rigged game called life?





	1. Back to the Grind

When Stephanie was called into a meeting with her former boss, Bruce Wayne and the rest of his bat children, she had been hit with a wave of different emotions. She was a bit excited of course, but she hadn’t seen the family for years now, most definitley hadn't kept up with her training, so she was confused as to why Bruce thought she would be an appropriate addition to whatever mission he had in mind. She assumed it was a mission; he rarely called them together otherwise. She was also annoyed, as she had tried hard to put the lifestyle behind her, ready to start a brand new, crime free life of her own; equipped with a shitty part-time job, slummy apartment and everything. She was just beginning to get used to her time away from the sexy, rich men that she had spent way too much time with. Which brought her to her last emotion; fear.

For five years she had dated Bruce’s third protegee, Timothy Drake, and while they did love each other, their entire relationship was rockier than a mountain range. This mainly fell to blame due to the fact that Tim put his job before anything else in his life, including his girlfriend, and Stephanie tended to get annoyingly needy about it; she’d be lying if she said otherwise. He eventually broke up with her, and this was going to be the first time she had seen him since...if he was invited, which she hoped he wasn’t, she was unsure of how to react. She was scared.

So here she was. Sitting outside of Wayne Manor in her fossil of a car, staring at the door and trying to decide if she should turn around and just pretend like she had never listened to Dick’s voice mail on her phone. They would be none the wiser. But of course there would be a chance that he wouldn’t be there and her worry would have been all for nothing. She did miss everyone else and wouldn’t mind seeing them.

Bruce was a big meh, but she like Dick and Alfred, and she hadn’t seen Damian in what felt like forever. The little demon spawn had been her partner ages ago, and while they were constantly butting heads, she did find him amusing and had his own little psycho charm. But that was when he was ten years old, the little bugger would be around eighteen now.

_Frig...time flies._

The last she had heard was that he had gone to boarding school in Switzerland though, perhaps he wasn’t back yet.

Sighing deeply, Stephanie pulled her keys out of the ignition and opened her door, stepping out into the crispy autumn air. She might as well get this over with.

Dragging herself to the door, she weakly knocked three times, a part of her praying that no one would hear her and she would be able to use the excuse that she thought no one was home. Unfortunately, despite his crippling old age, Alfred’s hearing was just as impeccable as it had been when she had worked under the cowl, and in a matter of moments he opened the door. His wrinkled face broke into a soft smile. It was almost sad to see that he had aged so much in a matter of eight years.

“Miss Stephanie,” his raspy voice spoke out. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. It’s been a long time.”

Stephanie forced a smile at the old man. It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy to see him, she loved Alfred, but her inner turmoil on whether or not Tim would be just behind him, waiting to ridicule her for the weight she had gained since he had last seen her was causing her immense distress.

“Hey Alfred,” she said with a nod. “Glad to be back.”

_Was she though?_

Alfred stepped to the side, allowing Stephanie to walk into the manor. She quickly looked around as she stepped on the heels of her shoes, lazily helping herself out of them and into her sock feet. The manor hadn’t changed one bit, it was still spotless and still smelled of fresh linens and faint, musky cologne.

Alfred closed the front door with a loud CLUNK and turned to the blonde, nodding his head towards the kitchen.

“Coffee?” he asked politely. Stephanie smiled and leaned herself on one hip.

“Yes, _please_.”

“Four sugars one cream?” She began to follow him into the kitchen.

“Aw, you remembered.”

“How could I forget? You were the only one in the manor who didn’t fear tooth decay.”

Stephanie chuckled as she sat down at the island, folding her hands together atop the marble table. The coolness of the stone gave her a chill.

“I’ve only ever had two cavities in my whole life I’ll have you know.” She joked, causing the old man to smile while he prepared her drink.

“How has life been treating you, Miss Stephanie?”

Stephanie shrugged to herself. “Life’s been okay. Not as exciting as risking my life every day in the backstreets of Gotham, but -” another shrug. “-it’s been good.”

Alfred didn’t say anything more as he continued to work at the kitchen counter, quietly preparing a small tray of biscuits, she assumed to accompany her coffee. Swallowing roughly she waited until he brought the tray over to ask the question that was one her mind.

“So, uh, who’s all coming?” the blonde asked nervously, taking one of the cookies and shoving the whole thing into her mouth. “Barbara? Dick?”

Before Alfred could answer, the phone from out in the hallway began to ring. Both beings looked over at the door, and quickly Alfred finished with her coffee, brought it to her and rushed out of the room. She swallowed her cookie and sighed, turning her gaze towards her steaming cup. Well, she supposed she would find out soon anyway.

Alfred didn’t return to the kitchen however, and Stephanie soon found herself finishing off her coffee...and half the tray of biscuits. Not wanting to clean the plate, she decided to go take a walk and see if Alfred was indeed okay, or if she could perhaps find someone else to talk to; someone who hopefully wasn’t Tim.

Getting up from her seat and skipping out into the entry hall, she continued to the hallway opposite the kitchen, peering into every room she passed, hoping she would find someone.  
Where had Alfred gone? Had the call been that important?

After doing a complete circle of the first floor of the manor, Stephanie had come to the conclusion that Alfred had probably fled to the bat cave to meet Bruce or one of the others, or had gone upstairs, so she decided to take a quick look.

When she got to the second floor, she found a strange sense of nostalgia wash over her. She had spent so much time in these walls during her late teen years, her and Tim, together and...mostly... happy. She dragged her hand alone the wooden wall as she walked, flashes of being pressed against them with Tim all over her, stumbling around after too much wine at dinner, arguing with Damian as they walked to their rooms after a mission, everything that had happened for all those years came flooding into her mind and it made her feel almost sad. She had really valued the time she had spent with everyone they were her family. The only reason she had decided to leave the manor and the life of bat-girl behind was because she had been too upset after her breakup with Tim. It’s a common fact, that you shouldn’t date someone you work with, and she didn’t really know why until the inevitable happened. It ruined everything.

Stephanie brought herself to an abrupt halt as she reached the end of the hallway, almost reaching the bedroom that she would stay in whenever she would stay at the mansion. She wanted to see it, to feel the memories of that room, but all of a sudden she could hear someone talking from down stairs. She stilled and became very quiet, trying her best to listen.

“Thank you Alfred.” It was Bruce. “Forgive us, the meeting ran longer than expected.”

“Don’t worry Master Bruce; the others have not arrived yet. Only Miss Stephanie is here.”

“Very good. That gives us time to change.”

“I’ve already laid out your casual wear.”

Their voices began to get quieter; they were leaving the main hall. Stephanie turned on her heals and dashed back towards the stairs. When she got to the top she looked over the banister to see a man standing in the middle of the hall. His back was turned to the stairs, and he seemed to be staring down at his phone, which he was far too busy typing into to notice her sudden appearance. He was a bit burly and dressed in a slick, black suit. Stephanie watched him for a moment in silence, trying to decide who he was. He was far too muscular to be Tim, who always leaned more on the spare side, but his hair wasn’t dark enough to be Dick, and his ass wasn’t near as good.

_Has to be Jason._

Stephanie’s lips pulled into a smile. Jason was the one bat-boy who she really didn’t know that well, but they always got along whenever they saw each other, despite his “brothers” and “father” always ripping on him for being the black sheep. Their sense of humor was very similar, and both of them had obvious fun flirting with each other. There was a sexual tension that she could never deny, despite she had only ever seen him during the time she had dated Tim. He was her exact type; a rough, smoldering bad boy. After her breakup and after she had recovered from her extremely dark heartache, she often wondered what it would have been like if she had chose Jason instead of Tim? She suspected that their relationship wouldn’t last long, but it would be really fun and the sex....oh god, it still made her weak to think about it.

Biting her bottom lip, Stephanie tiptoed down the stairs, trying her best to stay silent along the hardwood. Thank god he was too preoccupied with his phone.

She would surprise him, they could talk, catch up, maybe later grab a coffee. In all honesty she was quite surprised that Bruce had invited him there as well. Of course he was a part of the team but...he was a very low-key part of the team, a trump card that Bruce only called in when absolutely necessary. She guessed this mission really was important.

A few more steps and she would reach him. Her mind quickly tried to decide if she should hug him, or poke him, or slap his back. Anything to surprise him and pay him back for all of those times he would scare her for the sake of his own pleasure.

“Your stealth abilities are just as bad as ever, I see.”

She was just about to make her move when the man spoke, causing her brows to knit together. She knew that voice. And it most certainly wasn’t Jason’s.

“Arguably worse in fact.”

He looked up from his phone and turned around, Stephanie’s heart dropped deep, deep, down in her chest. Olive skin, deep green eyes, thick dark eyebrow.

_It couldn’t be..._

“ ** _D-_ _Damian_**?!”


	2. Familiar Faces

“D-Damian?!” she gasped, stumbling over her own words.

She could hardly believe her eyes. The last time she had seen Damian....he was a boy; thirteen year old who was barely even as tall as her and had a thin trail of adolescent muscle. Now he towered over her, had become completely bulked and looked more like Bruce than Bruce did, minus the darker skin tone, emerald eyes and slightly lighter hair. But he was....well....he was hot! How the fuck did that happen?

_No! No, no, no, no, no! Do not go down that path, Stephanie Brown. Do not!_

“Are you trying to catch flies, Brown?” Damian asked, his eyes flashing down to her mouth that she hadn’t realized had been unhinged so much that if it were anymore, she was sure her bottom jaw would fall right off. With a snap she closed it. “Close your mouth.”

_Yeah... definitely Damian._

“Sorry...”she mumbled quickly, her eyes trailing over him. “You’re just....you grew!”

“Yes, well...that is what happens when you age. At least to those of us who are fortunate enough.” The two previous partners hadn’t seen each other in years, years, and that was the first thing he had to say to her? He may have changed on the outside, but inside was still the same old Damian. His eyes skimmed down her body, and the way they did so, in a disapproving manner, irked her greatly. She was well aware that she was short. She didn’t need some moody teenager rubbing it in her face.

Stephanie crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing at him. She was about to retort with something snide and witty but before she had the chance the door behind them opened and in walked Dick, smiling from ear to ear.

“The fun has arrived!” he called out, closing the door behind him with his foot, his blue eyes landing on the blond. “Steph! Long time no see!”

Damian turned around to face him, his face scrunching with annoyance and cut off any interaction that was about to happen between Stephanie and her old friend, clear off. “I’ve been trying to get in contact with you since the meeting at father’s company concluded. Why haven’t you been answering my texts?” he snapped, shaking his phone at his older brother. 

Dick switched his gaze over to Damian’s and shook his head lightly. “Damian, relax...I was driving.”

“That’s hardly an excuse; you could have used the intercom.”

Dick and Stephanie exchanged looks while the younger being continued.

“No matter, I was trying to get in contact with you on fathers behalf to see whether or not you were picking up Drake.”

_Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!_

Of course Tim was coming. Why had she even tried to convince herself otherwise? Well, she might as well just die now. She was begging the floor to open up and swallow her into hell.

Stephanie could tell that Dick suddenly felt awkward by the mention of her ex’s name, as his azure eyes shot towards her quickly before turning back to Damian.

“Uh, yeah I was talking to him earlier but he said he was busy with something this afternoon so he’d find his own way. Probably going to take the bike.”

“That wasn’t so difficult, was it? Now I’m going to change, father wants us all in the dining room by six.”

Scowling, Damian turned around and began walking to the stairs, not without giving Stephanie a dangerous side glance. She frowned and for a moment, she and Dick were silent. It wasn’t until the young Wayne had completely disappeared from sight that Stephanie let lose, her lips moving on their own.

“What the _hell_ was that?” she sputtered aggressively, turning towards Dick. Her senior merely laughed, tossing his hands on his narrow waist.

“Yeah....” he said, tilting his head to one side, his eyes still focused on the spot Damian had disappeared. “He went through a little bit of a growth spurt in Switzerland.”

“A little bit?” Stephanie snorted. “No, no! That’s not a little bit, that’s years of training or...or... _steroids_! He’s as big as Jason! I thought he was Jason!”

Again Dick laughed. “Imagine our surprise when he got off the plane. I kind of assumed it was something Talia did to modify him back in the day and it just didn’t activate until now due to some sort of trigger or something. He’s like a gremlin, someone fed him after midnight.”

The two began towards the kitchen; Stephanie was fully ready to finish off the rest of the biscuits in an attempt to stress eat herself into oblivion. When they reached the island she flung herself on the stool and crossed her arms.

“And Tim? _Seriously_?” she spat. Dick leaned his elbows on the marble of the island and looked at her, shrugging slightly.

“I know...I know...”

“You could have warned me. Or were you too busy _driving_ to remember to add that little bit of information into your message...”

Snickering to himself, Dick pushed away from the table and went to the kitchen counter where he opened one of the cupboards and took out a glass. “I figured it would be obvious that he would come. He is a part of the team.”

“Yeah, and so is Barbara and Cass and Jason...but I don’t see them here, are they coming?” she demanded snidely, watching as he turned on the tap and filled his glass with water. Regrettably her eyes fell to the rear of his jeans.

 _Goddamn..._ if she even had half the ass he did she’d be dangerous.

Dick turned to face her, leaning on the rim of the counter. He raised the glass to his lips and took a long drink before smacking his lips in satisfaction.

“Barbara is unavailable, Cass is out of town, and Jason....is...” he thought for a moment. “Well....Jason.”

“That doesn’t answer why he isn’t here!”

“Why you so fixed on Jason today?” Dick asked, raising an eyebrow. Stephanie was caught up by the question for a moment and stared at him dumbly. She really was bringing up Robin number two a lot...even though she didn’t mean to.

She shook her head. “I’m not...I just. I don’t know how to act around him anymore. Tim I mean. I don’t know how to act around Tim.”

“I mean...you only dated him for five years, why would you?” Dick smiled slightly but Stephanie was not amused.

“You know, you’re so funny, Dick, that I forgot how to laugh.”

“It’s what I do. I was raised by clowns.” He took another drink. “But in all honesty Steph, I’m sure it will be fine. You’re both mature adults, and yeah...breakups are shitty, but you’re over it right? I’m sure so is he.”

_Was she over it though?_

She often thought she was; she could go to the club and make out shameless with some rando, she could focus on herself and eat whatever the hell she wanted, she could live her fucking life every day and not think about Tim Drake for one moment. But that was every day....the night was a different story. Sometimes she would get depressed and remember their times together or desperately wish that she could wake up in his arms once again. It scared her to think about bumping into him in the streets of Gotham, so she rarely went to the areas she knew he was fond of, even giving up her favourite cafe because it was his as well. And now today, she almost didn’t even come into the building because she was worried that he would be here.

That made her feel as though she really wasn’t over it.

Sighing deeply, Stephanie reached forward and took two biscuits, shoving one into her mouth and chomping down on it. She really didn’t know what to say.

Dick watched her for a moment before smiling. “You look good Stephanie.” He said softly. She gave him a look and pushed all of the mushed cookies to one side of her cheeks.

“I’ve gained ten pounds.”

Somehow Dick understood her and raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t even notice.”

Well that was kind, but she knew it was a lie. There was no way he hadn’t noticed, she had gone from a fit 122lbs to a solid 132lbs, and although she still wasn’t fat in any sense, it had gone all to her thighs, hips and face. She liked to think of herself as curvy, and made it a habit to think of herself as sexy. The amount of guys who showed, at least, sexual interest in her helped her maintain the mindset.

The two caught up for a while until Damian returned, dressed now in a pair of dark washed jeans and a red hoodie. For some reason the look made him even more appealing to Stephanie but she tried to suppress it, he was still Damian after all, seven years her junior.

When he returned he asked, rather abruptly, as per usual, if they could relocate to the dining room to wait for Bruce, so they did. If Stephanie had found the second floor hallway to be strange to be in, the dining room was ten times worse. All of the times the family had had dinner or breakfast together, save for Bruce, and the good old heart to hearts she would sometimes have with Barbara with a bottle of wine, she remembered all of it. Unfortunately, she was too focused on the large clock that hung on the wall over the door to enjoy her memories. She was dreading the moment Tim would walk through that door.

Damian took the seat beside her and immediately reached for the bottle of red wine that sat on the center of the table, and started to pour himself a drink as though he wasn’t four years underage.  
Privileged little brat. Stephanie thought to herself, although she too was allowed to drink under Bruce’s roof when she was a teenager. The bat was against a lot of things but underage drinking didn’t seem to be one of them.

When Damian was finished, Dick asked for the bottle and poured his own. Stephanie was glad they were taking their share first, because she was probably going to need the rest of the bottle.  
Stephanie cleared her throat. “So Damian, how was boarding school?” she asked, trying to break the awkward silence that had been caste over them. He took a quick sip of his drink before answering.

  
“Futile.” He responded sharply. “A complete waste of time, in my opinion. I learned nothing there that I didn’t already know from the years I spent with my grandfather.”

She supposed that could be true. When he was ten years old and she was sixteen, he already knew far more than she did and his vocabulary was much wider, he made her feel like an idiot sometimes.

  
“Well I’m sure it was good for something.” She shrugged. “You must have met friend’s right. Got a girlfriend?”

She wiggled her eyebrows at him jokingly, causing him narrow his eyebrows, his mouth pressing into a tight frown. She knew it wasn’t necessarily Damian’s personality to have a lady friend, he wasn’t his brothers. But perhaps she didn’t know anymore, he was older and a teenager is a teenager. He was already high strung when he was a kid and got even worse when he moved into his young teens. She could only assume the sexual tension that came with older adolescence would be a pain in the you-know-what for him.

“Sorry I’m late.”

That was it. The moment Stephanie died inside.

Before Damian had the chance to answer, a familiar voice broke out from behind her. A far too familiar voice.

Stephanie went tense and she quickly looked at Dick, knowing too well that her eyes were pleading for help. Dick wasn’t looking at her though; he was focused on the new being in the room.

“No worries,” he assured with a smile. “Bruce isn’t even here yet.”

Tim walked around the table and pulled out the chair beside Dick, his icy eyes landing on Stephanie. She looked up at him.

He was still the same as she remembered; pale, slightly lean, handsome beyond measure but different from his brothers. Dick had more of a pretty face, gentle features, Damian and Jason were more sculpted and rugged, but Tim....he was just so casually handsome, like the kind of guy you would crush on in high school but would be too afraid to tell.

He was dressed in a blue plaid button up that was left open, a black shirt underneath and blue jeans. His hair, which was pitch black, was a bit shorter than she remembered. He used to have a messy cut that had a thick fringe that fell to his eyes, but now it was a bit neater, and although he still had fringe, it was shorter and much more mature looking.

She tried to smile at him but it wouldn’t work. She was sure she looked ridiculous.

“Stephanie.” Tim said, though she wasn’t sure if it was a questioning tone or statement. “Why are you here?”

_Ouch._

Although it should have taken her off guard that he was so abrupt, it didn’t. She took a breath.

“I’d like to know the same thing.”

Tim made a face and sat down. Biting her lip and refraining from saying anything she would immediately regret, Stephanie reached for the wine to get herself her own drink. If that was really all he was going to say to her than screw him. She guessed the five years they had spent together meant nothing.

_Fucking douche bag!_

“So,” Dick clapped his hands together to get the mood up. “All we’re missing is good ol’ dad. Damian you said he’d be down at six?”

Damian grunted a response and nodded.

For the first time Tim looked at his younger brother, his eyes widened.

“Damian, holy shit.” He said, a slight amount of shock in his tone. It was as though he had completely missed him when walking into the room. “I hardly recognized you.”

“Perhaps you need glasses then. I look the same, I just grew.”

“Act the same too I see. Nice to know boarding school helped with you sour attitude.”

Dick chuckled and took a drink of his wine. Normally Stephanie would laugh too, hell she agreed with him, but she was so utterly irked by Tim right now she couldn’t help herself when her lips began to move on their own.

“At least he changed in some regard. You seem the exact same from the last time I saw you, Timothy.” There it was. The thing she said and immediately regretted. Suddenly all three men were looking at her; she gulped and grabbed her wine glass, bringing it to her lips and swigging mouthfuls of it down.

Luckily in that moment Bruce walked in and took a seat at the head of the table. He sighed and immediately Dick began to pour the older man a drink. When he was finished he passed it to him, and Bruce nodded a thank you.

“Thank you all for coming here today.” He said with a nod, digging two fingers into the collar of his shirt and pulling, as though it were too tight. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve all been together, and I know you might have had responsibilities of your own to deal with, so thank you.”

“Not really like we had a choice,” Damian grunted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms like the cranky teenager that he was. “You told us we had to come.”  
“Damian, you live here.” Tim snapped across the table, causing the brunette to scowl.

“Correct, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have more important things to do...Drake.”

“This is important, Damian. Let me explain.” Bruce boomed over them, resting his hand on the table with a light thump to get their attention. All of the younger beings straightened in their seats.

“Some of you already know that I’ll be leaving Gotham momentarily to join the rest of the Justice League on the watch tower for important business that I cannot discuss with you as of right now.  
Unfortunately, we’ve noticed that there’s been strange activity in Rome; there have been reports on some village elderly disappearing without a word. Diana was looking into it but...she’s suddenly needed on the watch tower as well.”

“So what does this have to do with us?” Tim asked, raising an eyebrow. Dick straightened in his chair and looked at him.

“I was asked to comprise a team who could go look into the matter for us. I thought about sending the Titans, but I’ve been informed that the tower is suffering from glandular fever and is on bed rest for the next two weeks.”

Stephanie snickered to herself. _Teenagers._

“Of course it’s not ideal, but you’ve all been trained enough in observation, problem solving and combat that I think you can do an adequate job at figuring this one out.”

“Wait...you want us to go to Italy?” Dick’s jaw dropped excitedly with his question. Stephanie’s ears and heart perked. Why had it taken her hearing Dick say it to realize.

“This is far from a vacation, Dick.” Bruce assured him sternly. “It’s a mission. Diana managed to boil the culprits down to three sisters, the Gorgons.”

“Like the Greek mythology.” Tim nodded.

“We don’t know if this is their real name or an alias to gain attention. But regardless, they’re dangerous and need to be stopped.”

Damian picked up his wine glass but did not drink; instead he looked into the crimson liquid. “What is their ultimate goal? Kidnapping senior citizens seems a bit purposeless.”

Bruce looked at him and he bowed his head slightly. “We don’t know yet. We want you to take care of that as well.”

“Alright well,” Stephanie started. “This sounds great and all...but I most definitely cannot afford to go to Italy.” It wasn’t a lie, her part time job gave her barely enough money to pay rent and survive.

“I’ve already dealt with the preparations for all of you.”Bruce’s voice was calm while he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out four pieces of paper, which Stephanie had to squint and lean slightly closer to identify.

_Plane tickets!_

“I took the liberty of buying four first class tickets, and booking accommodations ahead of time.” Bruce continued. “I assumed you would all agree.”

“We have a private jet.” Damian snorted at his father. “Why is this necessary?”

“Because up until now, the Gorgons have been able to evade Diana no matter what she does to find them; I figured going undercover would be your best bet. It’s also safer this way since you won’t have any available backup. And since you won’t be taking your uniforms with you, I’ve prepared customized daily wear that will be able to hold an equal amount of equipment, all modified of course to be compact.”

Tim rubbed his chin. “When’s the flight?”

“Tomorrow morning, early.” Bruce answered.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Stephanie shouted, waving her hands in the air like a lunatic. She was so confused. This was the absolute last thing she had expected. She hadn’t packed anything for a trip to fucking Italy! She wasn’t ready to go on a potential life threatening mission where she may or may not end up a human statue. She hadn’t even had a say, none of them had, and now all of a sudden they were leaving in a couple of hours.

_How long would they be gone?_

She was due to start her period soon.

_Do Italians use tampons?_

_Ughhh..._

“I have a job! I can’t just up and go.”

“Already taken care of.” Bruce smiled slightly, that horrible, snide, Bruce like smirk. “Your boss thinks you’re going to attend a funeral for your great aunt.”

Stephanie’s jaw went slack. She didn’t even want to know how Bruce knew where she worked.

Dick pushed away from the table and jumped to his feet, slamming his hands down on the table, his mouth spread into an ear to ear smile.

“WOO! We’re going to Italy!”


	3. Don't Try the Scampo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided to pick this story back up and continue!  
> In all honesty, I kind of lost my mojo to write this particular fic, but recently I've decided to give it a shot again even though it still feels a bit off...hopefully once I get back into the swing of it, writing it will feel more natural! I hope it's still something people will want to read, and I am sorry for the long wait!
> 
> Let me know in the comments below what you think! Thanks everyone!

Stepping out of the taxi and into the wall of pure humidity that was deemed as comfortable weather in Italy, apparently, Stephanie adjusted her sunglasses and looked around. Okay...the buildings made the heat worth it.

Entranced by the beautiful city around her, Stephanie stepped away from the car and turned in a complete circle, looking around with as her long, flowing skirt danced in the slight breeze.

“Wow....” she mumbled in disbelief. She didn’t want to come at first, and had tried everything in her power to get out of it. But Bruce assured her that they needed one woman on the team, as the Gorgons had only been targeting men and it could be a liability for the others. Now that she was here however, she was pretty damn glad she had finally agreed.

She turned back to the car with a large smile plastered on her face and watched as Tim and Dick helped the taxi driver pull their suitcases from the boot of the car. She wondered for a minute if she too should be helping, but her platform shoes would only cause her to be clumsy, so she figured it best to keep out of their way.

Damian, who was dressed in a pair of red shorts and a black t-shirt, the most casual she had probably ever seen him, walked over to her. He was also taking in the view. “Hm,” he hummed. “It’s dirtier than I expected.”

Stephanie turned to him so quickly; her ponytail almost smacked her in her own face. “I think it’s beautiful!”

“Damian!” Dick whined, hoisting his and Damian’s suitcases over the high curb of the street. Damian reached forward and took his.

“Thanks.” Tim carried his and Stephanie’s, but instead of being a gentleman, or even passing it to her like a civil human being, he brought it over the curb and just left it there, turning back to the cab driver who was quickly getting back into the driver’s seat.

“Grazie.” He called back at him and then walked over to Dick and Damian, pulling his suitcase behind him, and leaving Stephanie’s in the dust. She stomped over to it and fiddled with the handle that seemed to be stuck for a moment.

_Fuck you Timothy Drake! Fuck. You!_

“Well,” Dick sighed looking up at the building in front of them. It really was beautiful, Bruce had done well. “Let’s go inside and get some of that sweet, sweet air-conditioning.”

The three young adults, and one teenager, went into the hotel, and by god....Bruce didn’t just do well, he did mother fucking fantastic! The inside of the building was beautifully clean, with white marble floors, crystal chandlers, Victorian sculpted pillars and a full sized fountain. It was immaculate, Stephanie had only ever dreamed of staying somewhere like this, and now it was reality.

They walked up to the front desk where a man and woman, both very elegantly put together stood in navy suits. They were both quick at work on their computers. Dick took the lead of the others and stepped up to the desk.

“Hello,” he said hesitantly, perhaps wondering if they would speak English. The woman looked up at him and smiled, two evident dimples appearing on her already beautiful face.

“Benvenuta signore, how may I help you today?”

“Uh, we have a reservation under the name Pennyworth.”

The woman turned back to her computer and quickly typed. She nodded.

“Pennyworth, two double rooms. Yes, I see. May I have your passports?”

Dick reached into the pocket of his cargo shorts and pulled out their four passports, handing them to the woman.

“Just a moment please.” She turned around and went over to a cupboard that sat behind the desk, flicking through files until she found what she was looking for and pulled out a envelope. She walked back over to the desk and handed it to Dick.

“Here you are signore; please take the elevator to your left. Your rooms will be on the fifth floor.”

The receptionist pointed towards the elevators and quickly smiled once more at the oldest Robin before turning back to her computer. Dick turned around and went back to the others, handing the envelop to Tim.

“Alright, two double rooms on the fifth floor.” He said as Tim opened the envelope and took out four key cards. Stephanie tilted her head and peered at Dick over her glasses.

“Two double rooms?” she repeated. “You mean we don’t all get out own room?”

“Father could buy us all first class tickets to fly over here but he couldn’t get us our own individual suits?” Damian added on dryly. Tim flipped through the key cards and shrugged.

“Sounds like Bruce...” he mumbled, to himself more than to anyone before looking up. “No offence, Dick, but can I not be roomed with Stephanie.”

Taken aback, Stephanie shot him a glare. She wasn’t expecting him to want to stay in the same room as her, but again his abruptness was unnecessary. It wasn’t like she was the one who had royally fucked up their relationship and given him a reason to hate her. He was the one who was too obsessed with Gotham’s crime rate; he was the one who broke it off with her. Of course, she wasn’t too keen on sharing a room with him either; she honestly didn’t want anything more to do with him.

Then if that was the case, why was she hurting slightly at his demand. Why was she disappointed? Damn her hormones!

“Well, I don’t want to share a room with Tim!” she snapped childishly. “ _No offence_.”

Dick threw his hands up and quickly snatched the key cards from Tim, separating them and handing them out. “Okay, okay! You won’t be.” He assured them calmly, trying to defuse the situation. “Tim, you’re with me. Steph you room with Damian.”

She suddenly felt like she was going to cry. Anything would be better than having to look at Tim for another second; this was not how she wanted things to be between them.

Damian nodded his head and turned to her. “I get the window bed.”

The group began to walk towards the elevators, Stephanie trudging along behind the others. In a matter a seconds she had gone from pumped about being in Rome, to absolutely gutted. She needed wine and she needed it fast.

“So we’ll go to our rooms, unpack, change our clothes and bounce.” Dick told them as they all squished inside the lift, Stephanie making sure to stay as far away from her ex as possible. “Bruce booked us a dinner tonight at a place called,” once again he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. Squinting slightly, he brought it closer to his eyes and looked at it closely. “La Pergola. We’re supposed to be meeting a witness there.”

“All of us?” Stephanie mumbled, half of her face pressed lazily against the wall of the elevator. It wasn’t clean but who cares? Malaria would be a blessing right about now. “That’s not suspicious at all.”

“I’m going to be meeting with them; you guys just try and enjoy yourselves at the restaurant. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

They arrived at the fifth floor and piled out, all of them going to their rooms. As soon as she was in her own, the only girl of the group tossed her glasses and flopped down, face first into her bed, groaning loudly. She wanted to scream into her pillow but she was afraid that the walls would be thin enough for Dick and Tim to hear her on the other side, so a groan would suffice. She lay there for a moment until flipping over onto her back and sighing, her eyes shifting to Damian would was inspecting their room, ignoring her completely.

She felt a vein pulse in her forehead. She wanted someone to sympathize with her god dammit, so she huffed again, this time a bit more loudly and aggressively. She rolled violently onto her side, scrunching her body into a fetal position.

Damian didn’t look at her but he spoke. “Are you really in that much need of attention that you’re willing to act like a spoiled three year old?” he asked calmly, picking up a porcelain vase that sat on the dresser and looking at it.

Ah, he acknowledged her.

Stephanie threw herself into a sitting position on the bed and looked at him. “Can you believe Tim?” she practically shouted at him. “I gave him five years of love and devotion, only for him to break up with me and turn into a complete and total douche canoe!”

Damian turned around and looked at her, his eyebrows falling flat over his green orbs. He placed the vase back down on the dresser. “And this should be of any interest to me because...?”

Falling onto her back Stephanie huffed in defeat. “Oh forget it. I don’t even know why I thought I could talk to you.”

“Neither do I.” Damian said, squatting down to click open his suitcase that he had laid flat on the floor.

Stephanie waited for him to say anything more, listening to him rummage around his things, but he didn’t.

When they were younger and had first met, he was much the same way. Only talking to her to fire an insult or a snarky remark to something she had said. But when they had gotten to know each other better, they talked more. Conversation between them was more comfortable. For some reason, someone had seemingly pulled an Uno reverse card on them, and they were suddenly back to square one. It was strange and a bit sad, if she was being honest with herself.

Propping up on her elbows, she looked at him. He was standing again, holding two different coloured dress shirts out in front of himself. His thick brows were narrowed intently as he looked from one shirt to the other and she could see that his jaw was clenched tightly due to the slight dimple that was indented into his cheek. She had actually forgotten he had dimples.

As he walked away into the bathroom and disappeared behind the door, Stephanie watched the way his body moved. It certainly had grown since he was younger, obviously, but it was strange nonetheless. She had missed him growing up, and of course she knew that that wasn’t entirely her fault, what with him going to boarding school and spending some time with the Titans, but it almost made her feel guilty.

When things with Tim went south she had completely ran away from the bat family, escaping into the night and not stopping to look back once. How could she have done that to them? Maybe that was why things were so awkward with the youngest bat, he was mad at her for leaving. Maybe that was why Tim was so tense; after all, he was the one who broke up with her! If anyone was mad it should have been her! Which...she was. The point her mind was trying to make, was that maybe leaving was a mistake. It wouldn’t have been the first one she’d made.

The door to the bathroom opened once again, and Damian appeared, now wearing a wine coloured dress shirt and black slacks. He was just finishing buttoning the third last button at the top when his eyes landed on her and narrowed slightly.

“You haven’t changed.” She wasn’t entirely sure if it was a question or a statement the way he said it.

She sat back up and looked down at her white blouse and floral skirt. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? It’s fancy enough.” She responded quickly.

He gave a slight eye roll before walking back over to his suitcase and kicking it closed with his foot. Stephanie stood from the bed; she desperately wanted to say something to him along the lines of _“I’m sorry for leaving”_ , but her throat closed up and when he looked at her for her sudden movement, she just nodded. “I’m ready when you are.”

* * *

When they arrived at the restaurant, Stephanie damn near died of a heart attack. Not only was it the nicest restaurant she had ever been to before, it was also the nicest restaurant she had ever seen before.

Period.

She, Damian and Tim went in first as Dick wanted to stay behind for a while to make sure it seemed they were in different parties. They were seated in a terrace with a view that outshone anything Gotham had to offer; Stephanie was even a bit nervous to touch anything on their table, which seemed to be all real crystal and silver. God only knew that if anyone were to break anything it would be her.

The waiter came immediately and filled their glasses up with red wine. Did any of them want red wine? Who knew, nobody was asked if they did. Damian wasn’t even old enough to drink back in America; luckily the drinking age in Italy was sixteen.

They all thanked the waiter anyway and he left to give them time with the menu. Without reading anything other than the prices, Stephanie almost threw up. Even with her low ability to convert the prices right on the spot to American dollars, she knew that never would she have ever been able to afford this place on her own.

_Thanks Bruce._

“Hm,” Tim hummed, his icy eyes moving back and forth across his menu. “The tortelli sounds nice for a first course, and maybe the veal for the main.”

Damian craned his neck to the side, allowing it to sharply and quickly crack. “I was thinking the tortelli as well. But I think I’m going to go with the sea bass.”

“Not really a vegetarian friendly menu.” Tim said snidely, his eyebrows rising ever so slightly as he shifted his gaze to his little brother.

“Though not ideal, I’ll eat fish if there’s nothing else.” Damian responded calmly before turning to the blonde. “What will you have Brown?”

Stephanie frowned as she continued to read. “Uh,” nothing on the menu really sounded that great. Half of the items she had never heard of before and the other half was just strange. But not wanting to sound as unclassy or unrefined as she currently felt, she chose. “I think I’ll get the marinated scampo to start and then the....leg....of lamb for a main course.”

Both boys looked at her for a moment before Tim snorted a small laugh, immediately causing Stephanie to shoot him a glare.

“That’s funny, is it?”

“I just had a hard enough time getting you to eat sushi when we dated.” Tim said blankly, taking a sip of his wine. “Now you want scampo and lamb all of a sudden?”

Straightening her back completely, Stephanie tried to look confident and unfazed. “Yes, Tim. I’ve gotten a lot more adventurous since we split.”

“Alright!” Damian cut in before anything more could be said. “We’re keeping this professional. Remember. Keep the lovers’ quarrel for your own time.”

Stephanie was about to protest that they were not a couple when Dick’s voice came through her headpiece. Each member of their little team had one, tucked carefully into the pocket of their ear and a small microphone chip implanted in their tops. She was a bit weary at first that they were too small, but of course, Bruce had the best equipment his money could buy.

“I’m coming in. Any sightings?” Dick spoke in a whisper. All three of them subtly looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary to Steph. There were a lot of couples, a lot of what looked like work parties, nothing out of the ordinary.

“Over by the bar.” Damain spoke, his eyes glued in the direction behind Stephanie. She turned her head over her shoulder to see, and sure enough there was a woman with long, dark curled hair just sitting alone, looking from one side to another as though she were seeking someone out. “She’s wearing a green dress.”

“Got it.” Sure enough, Dick came into view. He walked over to her and placed his hand on her back, she quickly looked at him and smiled. He took a seat beside her.

“Well that was easy enough.” Stephanie said with a shrug taking another drink of her wine.

“The hard part isn’t over yet. This could be a setup; we need to pay attention to our surroundings and make sure Dick gets the information he needs.” Tim told her in possibly the least hostile voice he had used thus far. The waiter reappeared and took their orders before shuffling away. Stephanie swallowed hard as she watched him leave.

This was a mission; they were supposed to be keeping an eye out. But there was no way they didn’t look suspicious; one woman and two men sitting at a table together, none of them conversing with each other. She could only imagine how awkward they looked. So, for the sake of the mission she would be the bigger person and bite the bullet.

“Damian, I never did ask you, how was boarding school?” And by bigger person, she meant still giving Tim the least amount of attention as possible.

Damian’s green eyes shifted towards her, his face unreadable, just as it had been when he was younger. He cleared his throat. “A waste of time. I learned nothing from the instructors that I didn’t already know.”

“Well...there must have been some fun things about it, right?” Stephanie pushed. “I mean, living away from home during your teen years must have been a blast. No parents breathing over your shoulder, surrounded by people your own age all the time.”

“Doubtful that he took advantage of that.” Tim mumbled into his glass with a slight smirk. Damian ignored him.

“It was no different than living with the Titans.”

“What about you Stephanie?” Tim asked. She looked at him. “What have you been up to for the past few years? Living away from the mask treating you well?”

There was no sarcasm in his voice, no snide undertones. Was he really interested in her life? How dare he. But would it be rude of her not to respond? He was trying to beat her at her own game of being the bigger person. Well, game on Timothy Drake. Game. On.

Just as she started to open her mouth to speak, the waiter reappeared, quicker than expected, with their first course. Stephanie’s blue eyes dropped to the full sized prawn that was sitting in gelatinous black goo. Its beady black eyes stared up at her, as though pleading for help even in the afterlife.

“Grazie.” Tim thanked the waiter before beginning to cut into his own food, which looked a heck of a lot better than hers. Stephanie looked at him, to Damian who also had started eating, back to her plate. She could do this.

Picking up her fork, she poked at the gelatin. “I’ve been great.” She said, though her tone betrayed her. “Putting down the mask was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

“Why did you decide to pick it back up again then?” Tim challenged.

Stephanie swallowed hard. She really didn’t have an answer for the question; she didn’t know why she had chosen to come back to Bruce when he had called her. She just...did.

“I’ve got a lead.” Dick whispered though his mic, saving Stephanie from having to answer on the stop. “An antique shop in the old part of the city, it’s owned by three sisters.” Stephanie looked in Dick’s direction to see that he was alone at the bar, watching his glass of scotch as he tilted it from side to side, his other hand pressed tightly to his ear, she assumed he was listening for their response.

“Copy that.” Tim spoke quietly. Dick dropped his hand quickly as the woman returned and sat beside him again. “Guess we’re going to old Rome tomorrow.”

“Guess so.”

The rest of the dinner went okay. Stephanie wasn’t able to eat much of her first course, but the lamb wasn’t so bad. Somehow the three of them, mostly Tim and Stephanie, managed to keep conversation that wasn’t extremely hostile and by the time they were finished and Dick had gotten everything he needed, Stephanie was a decent amount tipsy.

The oldest Robin left before everyone else and met them back at the hotel. The plan for the next morning was to leave by noon and head right to Old Rome to find this antique shop. Luckily they would be able to find the Gorgons without any problems, but that was wishful thinking.

Something always went wrong.


End file.
